Marine Corps Times staff writer Hope Hodge Seck has been recognized by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for a 2014 story about the dangers Afghan and Iraqi interpreters face after working with Marines.
Seck was selected to receive the Heritage Foundation's 2014 Colonel Robert Debs Heinl Jr. Award for feature writing for her April 2014 story "Left behind: Without security, without citizenship, interpreters are exposed to death squads." She will be honored during an April 25 ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Virginia.
While working on the story, Seck heard from dozens of Iraqi and Afghan interpreters fearful for their lives. Many were begging for help as they tried to get to the U.S. after receiving death threats for working alongside Marines throughout the wars.
Seck also interviewed Marines who had invested time and resources to sponsor interpreters as they tried to navigate the visa process. They fear they won't be able to live up to the Corps' fundamental ethos: Never leave a man behind.
The award Seck will receive is named for a Marine colonel who became an author of military literature.
This year's Heritage Foundation award recipients also include veteran Marine Capt. Phil Klay, author of "Redeployment; Sgt. Reece Lodder, a combat correspondent, for his photo "Let sleeping dogs lie;" and U-T San Diego reporter, Gretel C. Kovach, for her coverage of the Corps' exit from Afghanistan's Helmand province in October.
